Once a year a special ‘surya tilak’ will adorn the forehead of Ram Lalla. On every Ram Navami, or on the birthday Ram Lalla the incarnate will get a gift of special surya tilak designed by Indian scientists.

Scientists from a top government institution have designed a special mirror- and lens-based apparatus which will ensure that every Ram Navami day at noon, there is a ray of sunlight that falls directly on the forehead of the ‘achal Ram Lalla’ statue.

It is officially called the ‘Surya Tilak mechanism’. It was a scientific and engineering challenge to get it right.

“The Surya Tilak mechanism would be fully operational when the full temple is constructed,” says Dr Pradeep Kumar Ramancharla, Director of the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee.

CBRI is India’s top institution, which is also a part of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Currently, only the structure till the first floor has been made, says Dr Ramancharla. “All the equipment that was to be installed in the garba griha and ground floor has been completed.”

The Surya Tilak mechanism is designed by a team of scientists from the CBRI in such a manner that sunrays will fall on the forehead of Lord Ram’s idol at 12 pm on Ram Navami day every year for about six minutes.

A gearbox and reflective mirrors and lenses have been arranged such that sunrays from the third floor near the shikara will be brought to Garbha Griha using well-known principles of tracking the Sun’s path.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, provided technical support on the Sun’s path and Optica, a Bengaluru-based company, is involved in manufacturing the lenses and brass tubes.

The fabrication and installation of this device will be carried out by Rajendra Kotaria, MD of Optica. The team from CBRI was led by Dr SK Panigrahi, along with Dr RS Bisht, Kanti Lal Solanki, V Chakradhar, Dinesh, and Sameer.

CBRI scientist Dr Pradeep Chauhan, who helped in the design of the Ram temple, says, “100 per cent the Surya Tilak will anoint the forehead of the statue of Ram Lalla.”

Since the date of Ram Navami is fixed using the lunar calendar, special arrangements of 19 gears had to be put in place to make sure that the auspicious anointment takes place as scheduled. “No electricity or battery or iron is used in the gear-based Surya Tilak mechanism,” Dr Chauhan says.

India’s foremost institution on all issues astronomy, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) came up with the solution to bridge the seemingly intractable confluence of the lunar and solar (Gregorian) calendars.

“We have the necessary expertise on positional astronomy,” says Dr Annapurni Subramaniam, director of IIA. “This domain knowledge was translated so that the Sun’s rays in the form of a surya tilak could then anoint the idol of Ram Lalla every Ram Navami.”

The IIA also had the expertise with optics as they have designed some of India’s best telescopes. That was extended to make sure this periscope-like device brings sunlight into the enclosed garba griha.

“It was an interesting scientific experiment where the 19-year repeat cycle of the two calendars’ helped solve the problem,” says Dr Subramaniam.

Even as the Sun’s energy will be harvested and directed to the forehead of the statue of the Ram Lalla, another equally ambitious project to make the Ram temple complex green and near net-zero by using solar energy panels to generate electricity could not be implemented.

“The presence of many monkey troops led to the abandoning of the solar energy project,” says Nripendra Misra, chairperson of the temple construction committee of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

“There are so many monkeys, and they are all revered. They would have damaged the exposed solar panels,” he says.

A similar surya tilak mechanism already exists in some Jain temples and at the Sun Temple at Konark, but they are engineered differently.

The private jet parking lots at airports near the city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism’s holiest temples.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday’s inauguration event for the Ram Temple.

The construction of the temple fulfils a key campaign promise of PM Modi and his party BJP.

The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election, and the who’s who of India is expected to be there.

“It’s become like a status symbol to be invited to this event,” said Rajan Mehra, CEO of Indian luxury charter service Club One Air, adding that his fleet, which includes the Dassault Falcon 2000, is booked to make multiple trips next week.

Officials estimate 100 private jets will descend on Jan. 22 on Ayodhya airport, filling it to capacity. Slots at Varanasi, a city around four hours away by car, are also full, as are jet spaces in Gorakhpur airport, which is a three-hour drive away.

Mehra did not disclose the price of the charters, but private jet booking website JetSetGo lists the price of a Mumbai-Gorakhpur flight on a Falcon 2000 jet with nine passengers on board at about $74,000.

The ceremony is also giving jewellers and gold traders a boost.

Some retailers say gold and gold-plated statues of Lord Ram and temple replicas – priced at between Rs 30,000 ($361) and Rs 220,000 ($2,647) – are so popular that they have run out of stock. Some items were imported from Thailand, they added.

“Customers are asking for them for gifting and for keeping them at homes. There is a waiting period of two weeks,” said Baldev Singh, a manager at HS Jewellers in Lucknow city.

The temple has already ushered an economic boom in Ayodhya, set to emerge as a pilgrimage hotspot for India’s 1.1 billion Hindus, and property prices have skyrocketed.

This week, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan bought a 10,000 square foot (929 square meter) plot for $1.7 million, government officials said, roughly nine times the average land prices in this dusty city just a few years ago.

The plot is part of the House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) luxury development which includes a spa and a pool.

“There’s huge demand for the project from domestic professionals, non-resident Indians. This is unlike any other demand,” HoABL Chairman Abhinandan Lodha told Reuters.

“People are betting on economic prosperity but there’s also emotional attachment to be part of the Ayodhya story.”

A 14-year-old Maldivian boy died on Saturday amid allegations that President Mohammed Muizzu denied permission for the use of an Indian Dornier aircraft that could have potentially saved his life, local media reported.

A Dornier aircraft, produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and provided by India, has been used extensively in the island nation for humanitarian purposes.

The teen, battling a combination of a brain tumour and a stroke, saw his family desperately seeking an air ambulance to airlift him from the remote island of Wilmington in Gaaf Alif Villingili to Maldive’s capital Male, where advanced medical care awaited, the report said. 

The tragedy began to unfold on Wednesday night when the child suffered a stroke, prompting his family to request an aerial transfer to the capital. However, their distress calls went unanswered until Thursday morning, when the country’s aviation authorities finally responded. The delay, reportedly lasting 16 crucial hours, sparked protests near the hospital in Gaaf Alif Villingili as the community voiced their anger over the delay.

The grief-stricken father, speaking to local media outlet Adhahu, lamented the lack of a prompt response, stating, “We called Island Aviation to get him to Male immediately after the stroke but they did not answer our calls. They answered the phone at 8:30 am on Thursday. The solution is to have an air ambulance for such cases.”

The subsequent transfer to Male, although accomplished, was overshadowed by the child’s rapidly deteriorating health. Upon arrival, the boy was immediately admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). 

Aasandha Company Limited, the company responsible for medical evacuations, issued a statement indicating that they had initiated the evacuation process promptly upon receiving the request. However, they cited a last-minute “technical glitch”, leading to a delay.

“It is with deep regret that we acknowledge the unfortunate passing of the patient involved in the emergency medical evacuation incident from GA Vilingili on January 18, 2024. The entire management and staff of Aasandha Company extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them, seeking solace in Allah (SWT) for the departed’s eternal rest in Jannatul Firdaus,” the company said in a statement. 

Media Statement: Regarding the Emergency Medical Evacuation Incident from GA Vilingili on January 18, 2024 pic.twitter.com/4weAjLEPPA

— Aasandha Company Ltd (@AasandhaLtd) January 20, 2024

Local Maldivian media reported protests outside the hospital where the child died. 

“People shouldn’t have to pay with their lives to satisfy the President’s animosity towards India,” Maldives MP Meekail Naseem posted on X. 

People shouldn’t have to pay with their lives to satisfy the President’s animosity towards India. https://t.co/PPOOKVXN7v

— Meekail Naseem 🎈 (@MickailNaseem) January 20, 2024

The incident comes against the backdrop of strained diplomatic relations between India and Maldives. 

The diplomatic tension between India and the Maldives has spiked in recent months, particularly after President Mohamed Muizzu assumed office in November last year. The new president has indicated a shift in foreign policy, signaling closer ties with China and a departure from the previous “India first” approach.

Bilateral ties between the two countries took another hit when a tweet by a Maldives minister, accused India of targeting the nation and claimed that India faces challenges in competing with Maldives in beach tourism.